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Which Is A Better Marketing Method - Iphone App Or Mobile Marketing?

By Sam Hallahan


iPhone's are undoubtedly one of the most popular mobile devices to have ever hit the market. They possess a highly impressive functionality and a vast range of downloadable applications, as well as slick and stylish aesthetics. On top of this, they also encompass their own distribution channel making the user experience second-to-none. iPhone's are certainly a market leader for mobile devices then, but does their sleek looks and state of the art applications make them as effective as traditional text marketing?

At first glance, much of what iPhone's can offer would appear to extend well into the business world. A well-designed user interface allows for incredible ease of use with the iPhone's applications, a specially developed in built distribution channel for a wide range of applications, and the incredible awareness and exposure of iPhone applications would seem to make iPhone applications a revolutionary tool in a revolutionary mobile age. When we also consider how rapidly social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter started advertising the latest iPhone application, one would expect the scope and use of iPhone applications to be monumental.

If we take the United States as a significant case study then it would appear not. In 2009, 87 percent of the United States population has some sort of mobile device. Of the 87 percent, only 2.4 percent own an iPhone, significantly diminishing the reach of any business looking to establish a mobile marketing campaign. In comparison, text marketing can reach 98 percent of cell phone users making it an invaluable marketing tool.

Text messaging is not only an established and vastly used marketing medium, but it offers its own impressive and distinct features invaluable for a text marketing campaign. Firstly, it is a stock feature on all phones bought today this means no need to download or pay for applications. It is also supported on all networks, whereas for instance in the U.S. iPhone is only supported on AT&T (12% of AT&T subscribers have an iPhone). As well as the incredible scope of text marketing, it offers incredible immediacy. As Molly Anderson of Optit states "Deployment on shared short codes can be immediate - no waiting for an application to be approved and loaded into the distribution channel."

For personal and leisurely use, iPhone applications are by all accounts revolutionary, sleek, and highly attractive. For practicality and effectiveness for a business campaign however, they lack any real reach and reliability. Traditional text marketing offers fast, reliable and effective service with vast reach world-wide. It would seem that when it comes to the mobile revolution, mobile marketers can really pay homage to the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Text marketing is, and for the foreseeable future will continue to be, king.




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